Category: Papaveria

“Wonder has no opposite; it springs up already doubled in itself, compounded of dread and desire at once, attraction and recoil, producing a thrill, the shudder of pleasure and of fear.” — Marina Warner

Thanks to everyone who entered Papaveria’s “Tell me my name” contest. We had a fantastic array of entries and the decision was not an easy one to make, but the fairy tale series does now have a name. I wanted something that said this is a fairy tale and I got it. While all of the entries were imaginative and delightful, it was the last minute offering from Deborah J. Brannon that took the prize. Papaveria is very pleased to announce the creation of our new series, Wonder Tales.

By the generosity of the authors, I was able to send out the full pdf of each book to every entrant. The winner, of course, will receive one each of the books themselves. And if you need a reminder, the two titles that will inaugurate this series are The Winter Triptych by Nicole Kornher-Stace and Jack o’ the Hills by C.S.E. Cooney. More information about each of these titles will be available shortly, but in the meantime I give you this peek at the cover art for Jack o’ the Hills, illustrated by the remarkable Rebecca Huston.

Thanks again to everyone who entered. Keep in touch, as we had so much fun reading the entries for this contest that we may just hold another one.

Remember the Snow White, Blood Red Series edited by Terri Windling & Ellen Datlow? Or Brian Froud’s Faerielands? How about Patricia A. McKillip‘s collection of wonderful novels, notable for their cover art by Kinuko Y. Craft, their gorgeous prose and their perfect size? Papaveria will be producing a series of fairy tale novellas inspired by the literary and visual aesthetics of these best-loved books. The only thing we are lacking is a name for the series itself!

The Contest: Suggest a name or names for Papaveria’s fairy tale series. It must be a word or short phrase that says ‘this is a fairy tale’. It can be drawn from any fairy tale or it can be something of your own creation, but it must not conflict with the series that already exist. This contest is running from October 15 through November 15, 2010. The winner will receive one copy of both The Winter Triptych and Jack o’ the Hills, the first two offerings from this series by Papaveria Press, to be produced as small paperbacks with lavish covers.

Please include your name and postal address in your email. I will choose a winner on November 16 and notify them by email. Please put FAIRY TALE CONTEST in the subject of your email. Send your entries to papaveria@gmail.com.

The Prize:

One copy of The Winter Triptych by Nicole Kornher-Stace, with cover art by Oliver Hunter.

Mike Allen, Nebula Award nominee and editor of Clockwork Phoenix, has this to say: “Nicole Kornher-Stace’s The Winter Triptych is an icily glittering marvel of storytelling construction. This wicked tale of evil queens, mad huntsmen, martyred witches and a terrible curse that unfolds over a century executes its slight-of-hand in diabolical layers. The immediate tableau before your eyes never flags as it pulls you in with its sweeping cast of characters, coldly terrifying villains and earnestly compelling heroines. And underneath it all, piece after piece locks and turns into place, until the entire triptych unfolds in a stunning revelation of inexorable fate, time-bending wonder and blood-curdling horror. I hold Nicole in both awe and envy: at the start of her career, she has already produced a masterwork.”

Oliver Hunter is best known for the gorgeous work he does for the ezine Goblin Fruit. He also created the cover for Nicole’s poetry collection Demon Lovers and Other Difficulties as well as Amal El-Mohtar’s The Honey Month (also published by Papaveria Press).

And one copy of Jack o’ the Hills by C.S.E. Cooney.

C.S.E. Cooney has spent the last two years perched in an aerie of the Windy City. Her fiction and poetry can be found in Clockwork Phoenix 3, Apex Magazine, Ideomancer, Doorways, Drollerie Press, Goblin Fruit, and Mythic Delirium. She has work upcoming in Strange Horizons, Black Gate and Cabinet des Fées.

You can get a taste of her writing here, at Subterranean Press. Jack o’ the Hills brings together Stone Shoes, originally published with Subterranean Press online in Summer of 2007, and its unpublished sequel “Oubliette’s Egg”.

Both are due out either late this year or early next, depending on how quickly our artists complete the covers, and both of them will be yours if you can tell us what the name of this series will be!